All Change Please

Nothing lasts for ever. It really doesn't. Choices are made, things change. We are awash in a sea of change. This change is fundamental to the fabric of the universe. Nothing is ever at a standstill, from the quantum foam of virtual particles to the ever expanding universe. We are made from change.

Change is inescapable. So why is it so resisted by some of us? Life, in a word. The sheer fact that life persists in this ever changing flux, means that in some sense it thwarts change. This is survival, a fight against change. And being alive, we have the survival instinct. This instinct to survive permeates our very essence. We are born with these instincts, but some need to be learnt and this learning can be imperfect. We learn to fear change because it threatens our survival.

Because of the barrage of change around us, we learn to assess risk to our survival very quickly, even as babies. The assessment of risk is about crystal ball gazing, looking into the future and imagining what might happen. It's an uncertain science by its very nature, some things are more certain than others and can be more easily imagined and played through.

It's uncertainty that builds fear of change. Of course uncertainty isn't really a thing, it's a process, dynamic. This means uncertainty can be reduced. There are several ways to do this. Firstly, is improve your internal modelling of the future, by gathering more information. Ask other people about their experiences, research it. Secondly, find new ways to model it, use your imagination to its full potential, allow yourself to get engrossed in the details of your future - this will increase the certainty that you can beat change and survive. Thirdly, take the risk. This can be done in stages, so that the change (risk to survival) is manageable.

Lastly, have a goal. This works on the assumption that we all constantly strive for something better (see Boredom). If the thing or future is tantalising enough, we'll be prepared to take a greater risk for it. In other words, if we can improve our chances of survival in the longer term in exchange for some uncertainty in the shorter term, then we generally will.

So the goal has to be good, appealing. Goals are of course imaginary and so you need to employ your imagination to its fullest and create an attractive risk. And of course, this doesn't have to be a solitary activity. If you can share it with others, all the better.